Audit reveals sloppy bookkeeping Sep 11, 2008
Mayor Danny Leverette said most officials that served on the board did not know governmental accounting standards and could not effectively interpret annual audits. He said everyone s impression was that the city s money was in good hands. (Columbia Daily Herald, TN)
County Budget Office Restructured Aug 19, 2008
In his last several months at the county after returning from the prestigious Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Scott has confirmed my belief that he is a truly outstanding government finance expert. I am confident that he will excel in his new position as CFO, and that he will continue to offer valuable expertise and leadership to our finance and budget team. (R News)
ICMA-RC Announces New Service for Clients; Milliman, Inc. to Offer Actuarial Services for GASB 45 Reporting Jun 12, 2008
WASHINGTON, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- ICMA-RC announced today that Milliman, Inc. will offer ICMA-RC clients access to actuarial services for Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 45 liability reporting. GASB Statement 45 on Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) requires government employers that offer a defined benefit health care plan for their retirees to calculate their liability for the promised benefits. (PR Newswire)
Adair Steps in as Budget Director May 24, 2008
Adair is the former Monroe County controller and was recently working at the Governmental Accounting Standards board. Adair replaces outgoing Budget Director Bill Carpenter. (R News)
No audit of student loan groups, says state official May 9, 2008
In addition, Seacat said the state Department of Administration and Legislative Audit Division in 2005 sought the advice of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board on whether MHESAC should be reported as part of the state s financial accounting entity. The accounting board called it a borderline decision, Seacat said. (Helena Independent Record, MT)
City Council gets first looks at budget May 2, 2008
5 full-time city employees, and it establishes a 200,000 reserve fund for worker's compensation and a 300,000 reserve for Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidelines. The proposed budget also calls for overtime costs to be cut in all departments. (Auburn Citizen, NY)
More of this story Mar 22, 2008
In the current fiscal year, Newport and other communities across the country, began accounting for its non-funded, health-cost liability, as required by the federal Governmental Accounting Standards Board ... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board does not require health-care trust funds, but if the city does nothing, and continues to pay the benefits as it goes from the operating budget, accrued liability will continue to climb. (Newport Daily News, RI)
Actuary: Fund retiree health care Mar 9, 2008
TRENTON The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is urging municipalities to consider financing health care for retirees in a similar manner as pension funds. Advertisement. (The News-Herald)
NY Company Buys First Californian Forest Carbon Credits Feb 12, 2008
Natsource and PFT said the deal was the first under rules adopted last year by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which set governmental accounting standards for emissions reductions through slowing deforestation. Opponents of generating carbon credits for protecting trees say it is hard to prove that land owners would not have slowed harvesting on their own. (Planet Ark, United States)
West Liberty audit report released Jan 30, 2008
The city implemented new reporting standards to meet regulations mandated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, resulting in significant changes in content and structure of the financial statements. The new financial statements include a statement of net assets and statement of activities, which provide information about the activities of the city as a whole and present a longer-term view of the city s finances. (Muscatine Journal, IO)
County to pay lower EPD fine Dec 20, 2007
A fraud policy was also approved by the commissioners, as required by the state Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). This is already covered in the county employment policy, explained Rogers. (Dublin Courier Herald, GA)
Pew Study Finds States Face $2.73 Trillion Bill for Retiree Benefits Dec 18, 2007
Because of a new rule by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, states will identify these costs in their FY 2008 financial reports, which are expected to come out between December 2008 and March 2009. The Pew Center on the States has developed a first-of-its-kind preview of these numbers. (PR Newswire)
CG passes audit with flying colors Dec 12, 2007
In making his presentation last week to the City Council on the fiscal year ending June 30, Finance Director Larry Rains said new accounting rules from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board require a two-part financial statement showing governmental activities funds and business activity funds. "Governmental activities funds are traditionally those funds that are non-revenue-generated or non-fee revenue-generated, such as our General Fund, our highway user fund, our development impact fee... (Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ)
UNOPPOSED LEGISLATORS LOOK BEYOND ELECTION DAY AND INTO THE COUNTY’S FUTURE Nov 5, 2007
The rule has been implemented by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, whose goal is to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting to provide more useful information to users of financial reports and to guide and educate the public, including issuers and auditors. The GASB45 issue was addressed at the Finance and Personnel meeting this week by county treasurer John Kruk and relates to governments responsible for monies put away for... (Oswego Palladium-Times, NY)
Gaylord city audit cites deficit Nov 3, 2007
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has determined that the management s discussion and analysis is necessary to supplement, although is not required to be a part of, the basic financial statements, the accounting firm stated in its annual audit report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2006. - Advertisement - The Keskine firm did not address the cover letter to any specific party but it was headed Gaylord Downtown Development Authority. (Gaylord Herald Times, MI)
Budget year ends on plus side Sep 29, 2007
Some accounts receivable money is still coming in, like landfill charges, which may not come until October but are included as part of the 2007 year-end budget in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards. No further amendments need to be done to account for those funds, Rowland said. (Bainbridge Post Searchlight, GA)
County must plan for future benefits Sep 13, 2007
Failure to comply with the new Governmental Accounting Standards Board requirements could prevent auditors from issuing a clean audit. Documents provided by PFM, the county's financial consultant, indicate that each year the county accrues the cost of future benefits. (The St. Augustine Record)
Palomar addresses retiree benefit shortfall Aug 25, 2007
The efforts are meant to help the district be in compliance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) regulations requiring all public institutions to state their deficit spending as a liability, Dowd said. The regulations also recommend that the district have a plan in place by July 1, 2008, to address the liability and pay it off within 30 years. (North County Times)
California Draws Line on Public Employee Pensions: Joe Mysak Aug 15, 2007
And now, thanks to a new rule from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, we have something else to worry about -- not just pensions, but those so-called other post- employment benefits, chiefly health care, promised to public employees. States and localities are in the process of tallying those, and the final figure just for those benefits might be $1 trillion-plus. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Retired teachers' health care 'crisis' is overblown Aug 9, 2007
One is the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or "GASB." Despite its name, it is not a government agency. It is a private sector organization that provides government agencies with advice about what it believes are acceptable accounting principles. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Politics)
County Courthouse Security Upgraded; Now In Operation Jul 27, 2007
The article details how Governmental Accounting Standards Board began requiring local government entities to calculate asset depreciation in 1999. By revamping the form and substance of its financial reports to establish a dollar value for current and long-term assets, county departments now have access to real time information about their budgets and departmental performance, indicated business manager Tim Stanton. (Fulton County News, PA)
SEC Chairman Makes Major Motion Picture Announcement Jul 26, 2007
He thinks it would be a good idea to set up independent funding for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and give the SEC oversight of the board. That's an ambitious, big-picture agenda, to be sure. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
SEC tackles muni bond regulation Jul 19, 2007
It could also mandate that issuers of municipal bonds use US Gaap accounting standards, and give the SEC oversight of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). A cornerstone of reform in this area would be to ensure that private companies who access the municipal market indirectly by using municipal issuers as conduits will meet the same requirements that municipal issuers themselves must meet, Mr Cox said. (FT.com -- Markets)
Leaders offer an accounting of failed measure Jul 14, 2007
" In the early 1990s, as a trade-off for instituting the state income tax, lawmakers required the state to adopt the GAAP budgeting. "From then on, the legislature and the governor delayed implementation," Wyman said. That tradition continued a week ago, when Rell vetoed a bill, touted by Wyman and backed by the House of Representatives and Senate, that would have the state phase in GAAP for budgeting purposes. Under the legislation, Wyman also would have developed a plan for the General... (Stamford Advocate)
Deficit or surplus? Depends on which set of books state is using at the time Jul 14, 2007
Depends on which set of books state is using at the time - Greenwich Time. Depends on which set of books state is using at the time. (Greenwich Time)
Rhode Island Auditor Tells Pension Plan Horror Tale: Joe Mysak Jul 13, 2007
OPEB, as analysts call it, has gotten all the attention lately, because the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is phasing in a plan for states and localities to quantify such things, and then report it in their financial statements. This pension information, on the other hand, is already reported. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
READ MORE > Jun 18, 2007
That's because the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is changing the way state and local governments must show the liabilities related to early retirement ... But the Governmental Accounting Standards Board decided governments needed to also show in their financial statements the eventual liability of current employees who may take early retirement. (Sioux City Journal)
State voters approve two amendments Jun 6, 2007
2007 11:57PM Published: June 06. You must fill in all fields. (Shoals TimesDaily)
Connecticut Wants to Set Its Own Accounting Rules: Joe Mysak Jun 6, 2007
Connecticut now wants to opt out of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's rules, joining Texas in what amounts to secession from the board ... The actual name of the entity, by the way, is the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, with the ``-al'' suffix. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Smooth Ride Is Ending for Municipal Bond Investors: Joe Mysak May 30, 2007
Last week, the state's legislature passed a law allowing the state and its municipalities to weasel out of a Governmental Accounting Standards Board rule requiring them to calculate how much they owe retirees in so-called other post-employment benefits. The legislation is now sitting on Governor Rick Perry's desk. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Bond Buyers Fret After Texas Secedes From the Union: Joe Mysak May 25, 2007
The legislation allows Texans to decide whether to comply with Governmental Accounting Standards Board Rule 45, the law of the land everywhere else. Madness. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Westerchil, other mayors attend Legislative conference in Baton Rouge May 25, 2007
The conference also provided an opportunity for town and city officials to learn more about the implications of a new Governmental Accounting Standards Board standard (GASB Statement 45) that requires certain reporting procedures for municipalities that provide post-employment benefits other than pensions to their retirees. During the three-hour program on May 16, LMA delegates heard from several administrators and Legislative leaders as they addressed State and local priorities. (Leesville Daily Leader, LA)
Auditing Rule Is Put at Risk by Texas Bill May 18, 2007
The spokesman for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, Gerard Carney, said it was the first time in the board;s 23-year history that any legislature had tried to derail one of its standards ... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has been working on a standard for measuring performance for some time, over the strenuous objections of the finance officers; group, which maintains that assessing program effectiveness is not an accounting issue ... The chairman of the S.E.C.,... (Shoals TimesDaily)
One thing not on agenda in Harrisburg: pension crisis May 2, 2007
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 45 now requires state and local governments to begin to recognize future retiree healthcare liabilities over the working lifetime of the employee, something already done in the private sector. "There is a new law regarding retiree health care, that that has to be reported in the same way pensions are reported in terms of the liability that is promised to people," says Benefield. (Pennsylvania Northeast Business Journal, PA)
Texas Two-Steps Around Benefits, Accountants Say: Joe Mysak Apr 25, 2007
The accountants' letter was dated April 4, and sent out last week by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board to reporters. GASB, as it is known, is fighting for its life. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Dysfunctional Muniland Waits for Regulatory Eruption Mar 22, 2007
The state of Texas is mutinying against the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, calling for the state to opt out of a measure requiring states to calculate just how much in so-called other post employment benefits they have promised to retirees. The Government Finance Officers Association on its Web site last Thursday called for the abolition of the GASB, which it says is ``attempting more and more to find an accounting solution for every financial problem. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
2003 audit finally OK'd Mar 18, 2007
That rang true for Robert Freeman, a Texas Tech University accounting professor who spent a decade on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which sets guidelines for municipal audits. There's an old saying by an auditor that 'if you turn up a rock and there's a snake under it, you have to turn over every rock,' Freeman said. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Texas Rebels Against Health Benefit Accounting Rule: Joe Mysak Mar 15, 2007
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is phasing in a new rule requiring states and municipalities to calculate how much they owe in what's known as other post-employment benefits, the health-care coverage they promised public employees in addition to their pensions. They have to calculate the number, and then include it in their financial statements for all to see. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Texas wants to strike rule on retiree health costs Mar 12, 2007
"This standard was passed in 2004, after many years of due process," said Robert Attmore, chairman of the U.S. Governmental Accounting Standards Board, an independent body known as GASB that sets the rules for state and local governments. "It's kind of late to be raising these issues.". (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
New PEIA rules will hit counties hard, officials fear Mar 8, 2007
West Virginia has adopted guidelines supplied by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which advises state and local governments on accounting and financial reporting. With legislation approved in 2006, counties must now report their share of an $8 billion unfunded liability for health-insurance costs. (Charleston Gazette, WV -- News)
Many factors complicate exam of huge deficit Mar 5, 2007
The auditor has not started auditing the city s infrastructure capital assets, including depreciation, which is required of the city for the first time under Governmental Accounting Standards Board practices, because the city s records are "not in good shape.". The lack of "depth" in the Finance Department, which currently has no finance director or assistant director, has made acquisition of city financial records difficult. (New Haven Register, CT)
Alabama Legislature Finishes Industrial Incentives Mar 3, 2007
Changes in the Governmental Accounting Standards Board standards require unfunded liabilities be reported. Alabama's current unfunded liability for the promises made to state employees is $20 billion. (WSJA.com, AL)
Officials look to insure retiree benefits Feb 20, 2007
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has created new accounting regulations for state and local governments. By Oct. 1, 2008, the city will need to have a plan in place for having the correct amount of money set aside for city employees' retirement benefits. (Shoals TimesDaily)
Busing Concerns Top CF Agenda Jan 19, 2007
In addition, the Management s District and Analysis Report was also accepted in accordance with Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 34. Elementary Principal Alicia Mellott provided the board with a brief overview of the financial status of the elementary musical program. (Fulton County News, PA)
Federal Probes, Pension Costs Can't Dent Muni Prices: Joe Mysak Jan 17, 2007
Governmental Accounting Standards Board's statement 45 requires municipalities to account for the ``other post-employment benefits'' they have given out to their retirees, chiefly health- care perks. You may have read about this little situation, which some observers say may amount to $1 trillion or more. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
Reed wins first round but budget fight next Jan 17, 2007
This change by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has been a boon to actuaries, some of whom are now hard at work estimating how much San Jose is on the hook for. Preliminary estimates range from hundreds of millions to more than $1 billion. (San Jose Business Journal, CA)
Accounting change for health costs will be a strain Jan 7, 2007
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board, or GASB, the private entity that sets accounting standards for public bodies, is requiring governments, beginning in the coming fiscal year, to report their estimated future costs of post-employment benefits other than pensions, such as retiree health care costs. These are costs a government will be responsible for in the future for which it has yet to set money aside. (Columbia Flier, MD)
Franklin claims tight budget Jan 3, 2007
The rule was created by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a not-for-profit entity that sets the generally accepted accounting principals for state and local governments. The rule aims to give government watchdogs such as bond brokers a more accurate sense of a government's financial shape. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
